Frustrating day for MMDA

Violation of traffic rules and regulations was rampant yesterday as frustrated enforcers of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) were forced to ease up on apprehensions following a recent court decision to prevent the agency from issuing Metro Traffic Tickets (MTTs) against erring motorists.

EDSA, the busiest highway in the metropolis, was teeming with vehicles supposedly banned from using major thoroughfares under the Unified Vehicle Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP), or number-coding.

Bus drivers openly violated "no loading and unloading" rules in their belief that MMDA’s traffic enforcers are now powerless and have been reduced to mere traffic aides.

The MMDA claimed anarchy and chaos took over Metro Manila’s streets because drivers are misinformed and have been made to believe that the Makati court’s decision issued last Wednesday was final and executory.

Still, MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando was forced to direct all personnel to "relax" and apprehend only those committing grave traffic violations.

He opted not to have his men argue with each and every erring driver which might just lead to heated confrontations and quarrels.

MMDA Executive Director Angelito Vergel de Dios, in an interview, said motorists definitely took advantage of the recent court ruling.

"Ang daming mga banned sa coding na lumabas. Yung mga no loading and unloading areas hindi sinusunod," he said, citing the entire stretch of EDSA as the biggest problem area.

De Dios said Fernando did not want any of the MMDA’s traffic enforcers to get hurt so he instructed them to be a little forgiving at least in the next few days until the public understands that the agency’s powers have not been removed.

Makati Judge Cesar Santamaria, in a 12-page resolution, ordered the MMDA the other day to stop issuing MTTs in apprehending drivers for traffic law violations.

He also prevented the agency from implementing its No Contact Traffic Apprehension (NCTA) scheme, which arms traffic enforcers with video cameras in filming violators on EDSA.

Both schemes, which nine transport groups and two private individuals questioned through a lawsuit filed four months ago, were described as "illegal."

However, De Dios stressed the ruling is not yet final and executory since the MMDA can still question the same through a motion for reconsideration 15 days after receiving an official copy of the decision.

De Dios said the public has been given the wrong impression, which should be corrected at the soonest possible time through the help of the media.

According to him, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has not received a copy of the court ruling, but will definitely file a motion which will seek to reverse the same.

De Dios, in a message to motorists, said the MMDA has not been stripped of its powers and will continue, for now, to implement the MTT system and the NCTA scheme.

"We are on status quo. We hope the public and our responsible drivers cooperate with us," he said.

Fernando himself, in a statement, assured the public that there will be no pull-out of men in the field.

"Throughout this experience, our existing programs did not grind to a halt. One’s vulnerability can be tested in the midst of strong resistance and difficulties," the MMDA chief said.

The MMDA, he stressed, is the only agency authorized to issue traffic violation receipts based on Section 5 of Republic Act 7924, the law which created the MMDA.

Traffic personnel fielded by local government units, he explained, are not allowed to issue traffic violation tickets unless these men are deputized by the agency.